New Delhi: Injury-prone India pacer Jasprit Bumrah is likely to play in the Asia Cup T20, for which Shubman Gill and Axar Patel are in contention for vice-captaincy of the team.
Bumrah’s presence in the tournament that is scheduled to be held in the UAE next month means he is expected to be rested for the opening Test against the West Indies in October.
Once the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence sends medical bulletin for players, the Ajit Agarkar-chaired BCCI selection committee will convene to pick the squad either on AUgust 19 or 20.
T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav is among the players who will return from injures and he has already started batting at nets.
New Test skipper Gill’s stupendous run-scoring in the recent England Test series has brought him into reckoning for the T20 vice-captaincy.
In India’s last series against England at home, Patel was the designated vice captain while Gill was Yadav’s deputy in Sri Lanka last year.
The selectors are expected to retain Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya for the five batting positions.
“Abhishek Sharma is world’s No. 1 T20 batter in last ICC rankings. Sanju Samson has been fantastic last season with both bat and gloves. So it will certainly be a tough call but Shubman in current form (although in Tests) can’t be ignored. He had a good IPL also.
“Problem for selectors is, there are too many performers at the top of the order,” a BCCI source told PTI.
With a plethora of top-order batters available, an opening for Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan, appears unlikely.
Reddy unlikely to make it
Pandya remains India’s preferred all-rounder and is expected to continue as Nitish Kumar Reddy isn’t expected to be fit from his injury sustained in the England series.
Middle-order hitter Shivam Dube, Patel and Washington Sundar are likely to be picked, while Jitesh Sharma and Dhruv Jurel will battle for the second keeper’s slot behind Samson.
With Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh certain to be part of the pace bowling unit, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana will battle for the third available slot.
The likely contenders:
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Verma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana/Prasidh Krishna, Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma/Dhruv Jurel.